John McPhee’s recipe of scrambled eggs with endive and avocado

In these times of deconfinement, one wants to eat very healthy and very fresh. I recommend this mix of vegetable and eggs, which have a double advantage. It takes little work and time to prepare and it is very soothing. With Oeufs cocotte tomato style, you have a full meal with no effort and here is a recipe from New South Wales of scrambled eggs with avocado and endive …

John McPhee has sent this light recipe from Australia. “In the early 1980s when a curator at the National Gallery of Australia, I spent some time interviewing Lady Marion Hall Best, a designer whose brilliantly coloured interiors brightened-up many Australian houses from the 1950s to the 1980s. One day she said she was going to make her favourite luncheon dish which she had first enjoyed in America. It has become one of my favourites too.”

Place some endive leaves on a plate and arrange some slices of avocado on them. Then scramble your eggs, three eggs for two people is enough. Scramble eggs by beating them in a bowl, adding a few tablespoons of pouring cream, and one tablespoon of water for each egg. Then pour into warm saucepan in which you have melted a generous knob of butter. Stir constantly until eggs begin to set. Pour them over the endive and avocado. Then quickly pour some vinaigrette, that you have prepared ahead of time, over them. This should be a simple olive oil and vinegar mix. It sounds weird but is delicious, accompanied by some bread to mop up the vinaigrette.

Tomato sauce or shredded mushrooms can be added in oeufs cocotte

I personally like to serve eggs as a starter as often as possible. So oeufs cocotte is a good and easy solution provided your guests are on time. It takes approximately 12 mins to cook in the oven so I put them whenever the last guest has rung the bell. It is nice to add tomato sauce or mushrooms at the bottom of the dish so as to create a surprise when your spoon dips into the egg. 

Use a little ramequin (individual soufflé dish), put either tomato purée or shredded cooked mushrooms at the bottom, then put the raw egg, and a large spoon of fresh cream. Salt and pepper. Dispose in the oven in a bain marie for twelve minutes at medium temperature. Check from time to time that it does not overcook: hard boiled egg is no good.

Mâche, endive, fennel, goat cheese and curry tomatoes

Don’t forget to set a spoon to eat it. You can make two per person if it’s a main course for Sunday brunch for example. As a complement make a healthy salad with a bunch of mâche or endive, add fenil, a few mini very tasty tomatoes, a little goat cheese, an apple, coriander and lemon and olive oil dressing.  You can use any lettuce, spinach or romaine if you don’t have endive.